Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 23 Crossing the River and Destroying the Bridge: The Second Son Slaughters the Entire Family!

Zhu Di had high hopes for the ascension of the Prince of Han to the throne.

He wanted to see what the Ming Dynasty would look like in his hands, but now a little incident has occurred.

The fourth brother has disappeared.

Zhu Di was extremely anxious.

From the beginning of the sky until now, the fourth brother's name has not appeared even once.

This is obviously not in line with common sense.

He just wanted to know what the fourth brother was doing and had no time to pay attention to Yang Shiqi.

Yang Shiqi was also shocked at this moment.

It is certain that they will not agree to the Han King's ascension to the throne.

The King of Han was originally a military general, and if such a person were to ascend the throne, it would certainly harm the interests of their civil official group.

Therefore, he really couldn't think of anyone who could persuade him to let the King of Han ascend the throne.

"This matter was also a mystery of the Ming Dynasty back then, and it was not until many years later that people got the answer. It is said that it was Zhu Gaoshuo, the fourth son of Zhu Di who was not well known at the time, who persuaded him from behind."

"Ultimately, the civil service group led by Yang Shiqi agreed to the Prince of Han's ascension to the throne!"

As expected, he's the fourth son.

Zhu Di felt that it wasn't that simple.

It's safe to say that even he couldn't persuade Yang Shiqi, that stubborn rock in the latrine.

Apart from the fourth brother, he really didn't believe anyone else could do it.

"I never imagined that in the end I would still have to rely on the fourth prince to help me!"

Based on Tianmu's words just now, Zhu Di had already seen through Yang Shiqi's scheme.

It was obvious that it would be extremely difficult for the King of Han to ascend the throne at that time.

They might even be falsely accused of being traitors by the Crown Prince's family.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di looked at Yang Shiqi triumphantly: "Old fool, I thought you were really that tough, but in the end you were persuaded by the fourth prince."

Although he did not convince Yang Shiqi.

But the fourth brother succeeded.

In the end, Zhu Gaoshuo was still his son.

"Instead of laughing at me here, Your Majesty should think about why Prince Qi would help Prince Han!"

Upon hearing this, the smile on Zhu Di's face vanished instantly.

Yang Shiqi was absolutely right.

He was so happy just now that he completely forgot about the most important thing.

The fourth brother shouldn't be helping the second brother.

What kind of relationship do they have?
If the fourth brother and the second brother really have a deep friendship...
Zhu Di was somewhat wary.

After all, the second son had always harbored rebellious thoughts, and if he were to combine that with the fourth son's talent, they might even be able to overthrow him from the throne.

This was something Zhu Di could not tolerate.

I can give it to you, but you can't have the ability to take it from me.

"Although Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, was deeply trusted by Zhu Di after the fourteenth year of the Yongle reign, he did not take up his fiefdom for a long time. Even so, no one believed that the throne belonged to him."

"In his autobiography, Zhu Gaoxu also wrote about why Prince Qi wanted to help him. In the 20th year of Yongle, Zhu Gaoxu tried to win over Prince Qi, but was rejected. At that time, Zhu Di treated Prince Qi very well out of guilt, and Zhu Gaoxu could not force him."

"However, before Zhu Di's fifth northern expedition to the Gobi Desert, Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, went to see Zhu Gaoxu alone."

"Zhu Gaoshuo told Zhu Gaoxu that he was willing to help him seize the throne."

"Zhu Gaoxu asked why."

Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, replied simply: "Because the old man asked me to help you!"

Zhu Di smiled with satisfaction.

The fourth child is indeed the most filial.

Such a good son is much more reliable than those three brothers.

"If the fourth prince doesn't take up his fief this time, he won't become the Ming Zhongzu!"

Zhu Di himself was a beneficiary of the existing system of vassal kings, so he should have been aware of the dangers involved.

Allowing the princes to develop freely in their fiefdoms would inevitably shake the foundations of the court. [“Later, Zhu Gaochi felt fear; by then, the three Yangs of the cabinet were all loyal to the fourth prince, and they admired him immensely!”]

Even his elder brother, Zhu Gaochi, greatly admired the fourth prince, stating unequivocally: "If the fourth prince were to become emperor, he would definitely be an even more powerful emperor than our grandfather, the Hongwu Emperor."

"The eldest brother actually wants the fourth brother to become emperor?"

Zhu Di originally thought that if he kept his fourth son in the capital, he would not do what he had done before.

But now he is completely convinced.

A person like the fourth son would be a wise ruler no matter where he is.

Zhu Di jokingly asked Yang Shiqi, "What do you think of the fourth prince becoming emperor?"

“Neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir, this is against propriety!” Yang Shiqi said calmly.

Zhu Di chuckled lightly: "You old killer, don't you want to be the chief minister of a great emperor for all time?"

Yang Shiqi remained silent.

He knew Zhu Di too well.

To be precise, it's about understanding just how selfish people with the surname Zhu really are!

But at this moment, Yang Shiqi was genuinely curious about what method Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo, had to change his opinion of Prince Han.

Zhu Di was not actually testing him.

He was just in a good mood and was joking with Yang Shiqi.

Actually, it's a good thing that the fourth brother can win people's hearts; now he's standing by the second brother's side.

He can rest assured now.

I believe the second son is capable of achieving great things.

"After Zhu Gaochi, the Prince of Han, ascended the throne, he immediately forgot his promise to his father, the Yongle Emperor, to treat his eldest son's family well and couldn't wait to take action against his eldest son."

"But he also knew that if he acted hastily, the three Yangs would definitely stop him. So he came up with a good idea: to poison Zhu Gaochi. Of course, he couldn't kill him directly, but he would slowly wear down his sickly elder brother every day!"

"As for Zhu Zhanji's life or death, Zhu Gaoxu didn't care at all. But in order to prevent future troubles, he still imprisoned Zhu Zhanji in the capital and made a threatening statement that if Zhu Zhanji dared to commit suicide, he would be erased from the genealogy."

"Zhu Gaoxu thought he could rest easy after dealing with his eldest son's family, but unexpectedly Zhu Gaosui suddenly said he wanted to take half of the world. Although he had promised when he was still the Prince of Han that the two brothers would share the world equally after they conquered it, he has now gone back on his word."

"That was said by the Prince of Han. What does it have to do with him? He is now the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Zhu Gaoxu was well aware of Zhu Gaosui's arrogant ambition. He always claimed that he was raised by the Prince of Han from childhood and was the most loyal member of the Prince of Han's party, but in reality, he also wanted to become emperor. Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu decided to take action against Zhu Gaosui."

"Because Prince Zhao, Zhu Gaosui, knew too many of Zhu Gaoxu's secrets, he acted ruthlessly. He found a pretext to send Zhu Gaosui to fight the Oirats, but ended up betraying the marching route to Esen, thus making his third brother die on the battlefield in a seemingly legitimate way!"

Zhu Di, who had originally had high hopes for Zhu Gaoxu, was so angry he wanted to crawl into a hole.

Yang Shiqi's malicious gaze, in particular, made him feel extremely uneasy.

But unfortunately, you can't show any emotion on your face.

He couldn't have imagined it.

This is the miserable state the second son was in after he ascended the throne.

Let alone the eldest son's family.

Zhu Gaoxu was even willing to kill his third son, who had always followed him and regarded him as a father.

What a bastard.

The second son is even more ruthless than the eldest grandson.

Does this mean that all his descendants must follow his example, slaughtering their own relatives and meeting a tragic end?
"And what about the fourth prince? How will the second prince treat the fourth prince?" Zhu Di was extremely nervous.

Since the fourth prince did not become the Ming Zhongzu, it means that he was either killed by the second prince or he submitted to the second prince.

Zhu Di certainly hoped for the latter.

But things went counterproductive.

With the eldest and third brothers dead, Zhu Gaoxu's next target is the fourth brother, Zhu Gaoshuo!

The fourth prince did not take up his fiefdom ahead of schedule.

They lacked their own power base.

He's doomed; how could he possibly be a match for the second-in-command?

For some reason, when Zhu Di learned that his fourth son was going to die at the hands of his second son, his heart ached terribly.

I feel sorry for the fourth brother.

(End of this chapter)